Paleontology News

Jun 18, 2025 by News Staff

In new research, paleontologists combined data on the distribution of Triassic pterosauromorph (pterosaur + lagerpetid) fossils with information on the ancient climate in the same areas. Foffa et al. suggest that lagerpetids — and pterosauromorphs as a whole — probably originated in southwestern Pangea (that is, modern South America), whereas the origin of pterosaurs was predicted at low latitudes in the northern hemisphere. Image credit:...

Jun 17, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

A ream of paleontologists at the University of Zurich reports a chronic case of osteomyelitis (bone tissue infection) in Plateosaurus trossingensis, one...

Jun 16, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

A partial skeleton found in the Fernie Formation in British Columbia, Canada, back in 1916 represents a new genus and species of an extinct marine reptile...

Jun 13, 2025 by News Staff

Most megafaunal herbivores in the Americas went extinct around 10,000 years ago, presumably disrupting the long-distance seed dispersal of large, fleshy-fruited...

Jun 12, 2025 by News Staff

The Tumat Puppies, two permafrost-preserved Late Pleistocene canids, have been hypothesized to have been littermates and early domesticated dogs due to...

Jun 11, 2025 by News Staff

Scientifically named Khankhuuluu mongoliensis, the newly-identified tyrannosauroid species is the closest-known ancestor to Tyrannosaurus rex. Khankhuuluu...

Jun 11, 2025 by News Staff

Using a novel method of geographical analysis, paleontologists inferred how archosauromorphs dispersed following one of the most impactful climate events...

Jun 9, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have described a new genus and species of gnathosaurine pterosaur, named Spathagnathus roeperi, from a fossilized specimen found in the...

Jun 9, 2025 by News Staff

Diamantinasaurus matildae, a species of sauropod dinosaur that lived around 94 million years ago (mid-Cretaceous period), ate conifers, seed ferns, and...

Jun 6, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have recovered the dinosaur skull material from beds of the Upper Jurassic Villar del Arzobispo Formation in Teruel, Spain, and confidently...

Jun 5, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

The discovery of a fossil blue-stain fungus colonizing the insect-infested conifer wood Xenoxylon phyllocladoides in China’s Jurassic Tiaojishan Formation...

Jun 3, 2025 by News Staff

Paleontologists have identified peptide markers for three species of extinct Australian megafauna — a hippo-sized wombat, a giant kangaroo, and a...

Jun 2, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

Paleontologists have identified a new genus and species of small lambeosaurine hadrosaurid dinosaur from two fossilized jaws found in Morocco. An artist’s...

Jun 2, 2025 by News Staff

Paleontologists have found evidence of a previously unrecognized soft tissue structure in the cheek region of many dinosaur species, which they’ve called...

May 30, 2025 by News Staff

Polar ecosystems are structured and enriched by birds, which nest there seasonally and serve as keystone ecosystem members. Despite the ecological importance...

May 26, 2025 by Enrico de Lazaro

A new genus and species of eusauropod dinosaur has been identified from a fossilized partial skeleton with a nearly complete skull found in the Chinese...

May 26, 2025 by News Staff

In a study published today in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters, paleontologists analyzed the ratio of two different zinc isotopes in the...

May 23, 2025 by News Staff

Today, there are only two sloth species, but historically, there were dozens of them, including one with a bottle-nosed snout that ate ants and another...

May 23, 2025 by News Staff

Traskasaura sandrae, a 12-m-long elasmosaur (a type of plesiosaur) that lived in the Cretaceous seas, 85 million years ago, had a strange mix of primitive...

May 21, 2025 by News Staff

Long dinosaur trackways provide valuable records of trackmaker behavior, yet their study is often hindered by logistical challenges in documentation and...